How to Improve Your Sewing Speed?

Have you ever bought a pattern that says "Quick and Easy," "Super Fast," "Under 2 hours," and when you actually work on the project it takes the entire day or just gets tossed into the unfinished pile?

Like anything else, if you want to get better at something, you must keep practicing/training.  What I like to do with myself and my assistants is time our projects from start to completion.  The first time you time your project, simply assess how long each part of the project takes.  Time your cutting of patterns, cutting of fabrics, pinning, sewing, hand stitching, etc.  And then try to see what part you have a hard time with or what part can be improved.  What are the problem areas?  You need to find out how you can be more efficient with your projects without taking away quality.  For example,  I used to use scissors for cutting patterns and fabrics.  It not only hurt my hand, but it also wasn't precise.  This lead to patterns not matching perfectly and more room for error in my pinning and sewing.  Now I use a rotary blade to cut my patterns and fabrics.  This cuts down over 50% of the time when I worked with scissors.

As you improve your skills, your time will definitely improve.  Good luck and keep on training!

Sincerely,

Sumie